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Ingrid Michaelson has revealed she writes her best music when she's unhappy.
The New York-based singer-songwriter, the biggest-selling unsigned artist in the world, has become known for songs about heartbreak and confessed it can be tough to find the inspiration when she's happy.
She said: "Well, unfortunately for me, my best songs seem to come when I'm feeling that way, so for a while I couldn't really write any songs. I didn't have that sadness, and I did think for a brief moment that I'd just write something that I liked, but didn't love, and that would be an OK compromise now I feel happy in my personal life.
"Thankfully, I was able to drag up all the sadness from the past, and write about other people and basically find a way to write again."
The singer recorded her new album, Human Again, last year.
She said: "I took nearly all of 2011 off. I got married and made my record.
"This record was made at a much happier place in my life, as the title suggests. It's a return to feeling complete again after feeling empty and breathless for so long. It's all about that too. I really needed to take the year off to do it as I'd been so busy for a while. I only played three shows in the whole of 2011, which is most unlike me."
:: Ingrid Michaelson releases her new album Human Again on August 27. For more information, visit www.ingridmichaelson.com.
Press Association
